Rise of the Tomb Raider Preview

The most recent entry in the Tomb Raider franchise proved to be a wild access, capturing the hearts and minds of casual and hardcore gamers alike. The brisk pace, excellent sense of adventure and compelling gameplay has created a lot of hype around the sequel: Rise of the Tomb Raider. Pegged as an Xbox One exclusive to start, Rise of the Tomb Raider seeks to build upon the originals success to help increase Microsoft’s install base.

Whether or not this becomes a successful proposition remains to be seen. Exclusive titles are few and far between as publishers seek to reach as many potential gamers as possible. Right now we know that the core gameplay remains the same as its predecessor: a tight, fast paced action adventure that relies on Lara Croft interacting with the environment. Some gameplay was shown at E3 2015 and the pieces showed off were truly stunning. The set pieces also promise to be of the highest quality with the new engines that were developed for use on the next-gen consoles.

Lara is embarking on her first Tomb Raider expedition instead of being cast in a survivalist role as in the prior installment. Though the premise is slightly different, she will still be using the same set of skills to work through a set of hostile environments. There will also be ample opportunity for her to engage in guerilla combat, some of the same tense encounters that were a hallmark of the first game. They pleased players and will likely remain a focal point here, though we can expect some new wrinkles.

Speaking of wrinkles, there will be two editions of the game released initially released, a $60 version that includes the standard fare and a $90 version that will include a special outfit for Lara and the DLC pack as well. The DLC promises several new extensions including a new dungeon where you’ll hunt an ancient terror in Baba Yaga, a new endurance mode and a mode called Cold Darkness Awakened. That last will pit Lara up against waves of enemies which is a divergent mode for a game like this.

Rise of the Tomb Raider holds a lot of promise and we know that at least some of it will be fulfilled in the graphics department. The footage shown thus far was smooth, fast and incredibly detailed. As long as the developers continue with their due diligence for the rest of the experience, they can expect a warm reception from gamers for the visuals. To that same end, the gameplay mechanics established in the first game were also revered and need only be mimicked to achieve similar success. It’s clear that the bar will be raised further with the addition of new modes and content.